New Golf R Owner - Intro and a Few Questions

[Nissanskylinen1]

If you run the lower psi the tire protects the wheel worse but your spine and tail bone better.

Higher psi is the reverse.

19s are going to give your teeth a rattle occasionally, if that doesn't sound super appealing these cars wear 18 inch wheels nicely as well. Then you can have more sidewall for comfort and wheel protection.

If you're not loving the Pretoria they are easily sold and definitely worth a fair amount of coin.

I guess I should go slightly higher than OEM spec (39psi) for a good balance between spine and wheel protection? I wonder if I could go a little thicker on the sidewall and more "comfort" on the next set of tires when these wear out eventually. I had Falken FK510s on the G35 and they were an absolute dream.

I really love the Pretorias, and they were actually a requirement for when I was looking for a Golf R. Cadiz wheels look kinda ugly.

For winters, I'm looking at 18 or even maybe 17 inch wheels with thick sidewalls. I think something like this in gunmetal silver (OZ Superturismo Rally) would look gorgeous on it:

 

[LarryM71]

1) What kind of service should I have the dealer do? Bring it into any German car garage in your area for an overhaul but given the kms you should be fine. After that just follow the owners manual.

4) Are there any "must-have" items that I should buy for the car? Spare wheel, back up battery for your key fob, European mirrors, access to the center cubby and the fallowing optional items such as interior blue led light's, door sills and carista or similiar obd module to personalize some of the car settings on the fly,

Enjoy the car mate its great and fun to drive.

 

[Al_in_Philly]

Another observation - low profile tires look good but can't take potholes at all. Coming from 45 profiles, these 35s seem to make the shock absorbers do most of the work.

Yes, with regards to sidewalls, size matters. But so does tire composition. When I switched out the original 235/35/19 Bridgestones which came on my R, to Michelin Pilot Sport 4S's I didn't just get way more grip, but I was shocked when the ride improved to about the same level as my 225/40/18 winter tires.

BTW, regarding your question about dealer work, as long as you have a good skilled mechanic you like to go to, only things like the changing the Haldex fluid, which need to tap into the ECM to do properly, need to be done by the dealer. Then again, if you have a really good VW mechanic, even that's a job which doesn't need to go back to your dealer.

 

[Nissanskylinen1]

Yes, with regards to sidewalls, size matters. But so does tire composition. When I switched out the original 235/35/19 Bridgestones which came on my R, to Michelin Pilot Sport 4S's I didn't just get way more grip, but I was shocked when the ride improved to about the same level as my 225/40/18 winter tires.

BTW, regarding your question about dealer work, as long as you have a good skilled mechanic you like to go to, only things like the changing the Haldex fluid, which need to tap into the ECM to do properly, need to be done by the dealer. Then again, if you have a really good VW mechanic, even that's a job which doesn't need to go back to your dealer.

There's an Audi mechanic near me - maybe I'll go check him out soon.

I just looked in the warranty booklet and noted that it ends on August 4th, but the earliest appointment they could give me for service is the 10th. Will they forgo the 6 days that the car is out of warranty in case anything is wrong?

Also, I've become curious about these high bolsters on the seats. Will they collapse and wear out with use over time or are they durable/can take use?

 

[jimlloyd40]

There's an Audi mechanic near me - maybe I'll go check him out soon.

I just looked in the warranty booklet and noted that it ends on August 4th, but the earliest appointment they could give me for service is the 10th. Will they forgo the 6 days that the car is out of warranty in case anything is wrong?

Also, I've become curious about these high bolsters on the seats. Will they collapse and wear out with use over time or are they durable/can take use?

Give them a call and tell them about the warranty situation.

 

[Lager_Ace]

Yes, with regards to sidewalls, size matters. But so does tire composition. When I switched out the original 235/35/19 Bridgestones which came on my R, to Michelin Pilot Sport 4S's I didn't just get way more grip, but I was shocked when the ride improved to about the same level as my 225/40/18 winter tires.

BTW, regarding your question about dealer work, as long as you have a good skilled mechanic you like to go to, only things like the changing the Haldex fluid, which need to tap into the ECM to do properly, need to be done by the dealer. Then again, if you have a really good VW mechanic, even that's a job which doesn't need to go back to your dealer.

I hear ya with the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S's. Night and Day difference compared to the OEM Continental Sport Contact 5P's, was surprised how quiet they are.

 

[Nissanskylinen1]

I hear ya with the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S's. Night and Day difference compared to the OEM Continental Sport Contact 5P's, was surprised how quiet they are.

Thanks for the recommendation but I think I'll be getting Falken FK510s for my next set of tires. I've had a very good experience with them previously on my G35, and they are a fraction of the cost of MPS 4S's. But you are right, these 5Ps are really loud - as loud as my old BFG Comp-2s.

Okay so today the shift boot trim decided to pop off, and I noticed that the two silver tabs had actually been broken whenever they installed this short shifter. The rubber boot under the leather one also has a tear in it, which I am assuming is from when they installed this shifter.

I am actually really disappointed at the level of workmanship that the shop the previous owner went to have shown in this car. Apparently the car was reverted back to stock at K&H Automotive Performance in Scarborough, Ontario. Whatever work I'm looking at they have done is so sloppy and lazy. The tail lights weren't coded back to stock, the car was lowered but the headlights weren't reset via coding to make it point back upwards, the vacuum tube was not put back onto the airbox, the O2 sensor was not put back in correctly and has a CEL P2270, the radiator hose wasn't pushed in correctly near the airbox, giving me my white spots in the engine bay. They also yanked off the wires for the P3 gauge cluster so I had to strip wires pretty far before soldering the fuse taps to install them. Also, only one of the wheels has the wheel lock. I'm not sure if its just the general workmanship of VW mechanics in the Toronto area, but this looks very lazy. For my past cars we either lived in Japan where workmanship is very neat or worked on the cars ourselves. The mechanic for the BMW in the house (who has good workmanship) says he only works on BMW and Mercs, so he's out of the running.

Same with the shop that installed some of the original mods that the previous owner did (Park Auto Motorsports). They lowered the car but didn't perform calibration on the ACC, so the previous owner's fault code of the ACC not being aligned was still in the ECU. Cleared and it hasn't come back. I also don't know what they were doing in the shifter area, but when I looked under the shifter boot, the rubber boot had a cut in it for no apparent reason, and as mentioned above the tabs had been broken.

I also noticed that my car is still out of alignment, although not as bad as it used to be. For the first 5 minutes when I drive it, it veers to the left. However, after a few minutes the steering wheel points relatively straight. I asked for the mechanic for an alignment printout but he said that he didn't have paper to print it out. Nevertheless, the car drives much better than it used to. However, he left dirty fingerprints on my door handle

 

[Nissanskylinen1]

Update: Took the car for service (oil change) and paid an hours worth of diag.

Apparently the white spots are old coolant that has been sitting on there. Pressure tested and there's no leaks.
The rear BSM sensor was apparently unplugged but the mirror is still dead. I swapped in a working mirror and it still doesn't work. I'll pick my battles wisely and give up on this one.
I called VW and they said they will cover the o2 sensor under goodwill warranty! I am very happy, as that's $400 saved.
The shifter trim is $200 and they said I should go glue the clips on myself because its too sketchy of a job for a dealer to do (understandable - you don't glue things as a dealer LOL).

I've got a question in terms of lane assist. I understand that via OBDeleven you can code it so that it keeps you in the middle of the lane. However, when I go into the app it says that I can't enable it because its not supported, even though I have DAP. Were there old and new versions of the lane assist cameras or something? I've included pics of the camera below. Is it not the right kind or is it OBDeleven being confused?

 

[DarkArrow]

Update: Took the car for service (oil change) and paid an hours worth of diag.

Apparently the white spots are old coolant that has been sitting on there. Pressure tested and there's no leaks.

Many people have passed pressure tests with a leaking pump/thermostat. That is not an accurate test.

 

[Nissanskylinen1]

Many people have passed pressure tests with a leaking pump/thermostat. That is not an accurate test.

Would you mind providing more detail on this? Is the coolant thick or something?

 

[EpicTech]

I think the Golf R has different gearing than the GTI? My GTI at 3000 rpm is 145kpa (90mph)

 

[jimlloyd40]

Would you mind providing more detail on this? Is the coolant thick or something?

The coolant isn't thick. The leak is almost always from the thermostat housing. If they just do a short pressure test it isn't long enough to start leaking. If they keep your car overnight for a pressure test the engine isn't running.